Metering pump



J.. HURLBL JT METERING PUMP Mar'h 9, 1943.

Filed Sept. 23, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l Ja/m Hur/buz INVENTOR BY MXZW ATTORNE YS March 9, 1943. J. HURLBUT 2,313,551

METERING PUMP Filed Sept. 23, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet- 4/6 pic John Hur/buzINVEN TOR ATTORNEYS- Patented Mar. 9, 1943 METERING PUMP John Hu'rlbut,Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Eastman Kodak Company,

poratlon of New Jersey Application September 23, 1941, Serial No.411,967

4jClaims. This invention relates to pumps and particuadjusted to furnishone or more fluids in exact proportions as for a coating operation. Oneobject of my invention is to provide a pump in which a fluid to bepumped comes in contact with only a few metallic parts of-the pump.Another object is to provide a pump containing only a few metallic partswhich contact with the material to be pumped, these parts being soconstructed that they may be inexpensively made from inert materials ormay be made inert by larly to a metering pump which can be readilysilver plating or otherwise especially prepared for the particularfluids which are to be pumped. Another object of my invention is toprovide a metering pump adapted to be used with diiferent fluids and soconstructed that the pump can be rapidly assembled and disassembled forcleaning. Another object is to provide a pump with nested annularmembers which may be clamped in an operative relationship by a readilyreleasable clamp. Other objects will appear from the followingspecification, the novel features being particularly pointed out in theclaims at the end thereof.

In many machines for coating on strip or web material it has beennecessary .to accurately meter the coating fluid as it is passed to acoating pan or to a reservoir or an applicator which applies the coatingmaterial to the strip or web material. Where it is necessary tofrequently change the type of coating; it has been necessary to eitherprovide different metering pumps for the various coating fluids, or todisassemble the pumps, thoroughly clean them and reassemble them beforeusing a diflerent coating. Both of these systems are expensive, theformer because of the money tied up in a series of difierent pumps, andthe latter because of the delay and expense in assembling anddisassembling the I v pumps.

In accordance with my present invention, I have designed a metering pumpwhich can be assembled or disassembled in a very few minutes so that theparts coming in contact withthe material being pumped can either berapidly cleaned or so that a separate set of parts can be readilyinstalled in the pum thereby preventing contamination of the coatingmaterial.

Coming now to the drawings wherein like reference characters denote likeparts throughout:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a typical metering pump constructed inaccordance with and embodying a preferred form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of that portion of the Rochester, N.

Y., a cormetering pump which can be readily assembled and disassembledfor the purpose above described.

Fig. 3 is a section through a portion of the metering pumptaken on line3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation partially in section showing a portion of themetering pump and the drive therefor; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views taken through a clutch mechanism bywhich the amount of pumped material can be changed, Fig. 5 showing theadjustment for the maximum flow of pumped material, and Fig. 6 showingthe adjustment for a minimum flow thereof.

Referring to Fig. 1, my metering pump comprises broadly two sections, Iand 2, section I consisting of parts which may be readily taken apartfor cleaning and section 2 containing the'power drive which is in theform of a pulsator. 2 also carries a supplementary pump 3 which will behereinafter more fully described. A

Broadly, my invention consists in producing a pump in which parts haveonly a minimum contact. with the fluid being pumped, these parts beingreadily and quickly removable and being free from contact with bearings,packing material and the like which might'contaminate the material beingpumped.

Referring to Fig. 3, the fluid being pumped may enter through a pipe 4,this pipe leading to a plurality of apertures 5 which may be covered bya flexible diaphragm 6, having an aperture 1 which may lay against asupport 8. The diaphragm 6 may be clamped between the periphery 9 of thesupport 8 and an annular ring II! when the parts are in an assembledposition.

The annular ring III also with a second annular ring Ii may clamp theendwall I2 of a flexible sleeve I3 to one end of a cylinder 28, therebeing a similar clamping arrangement for the opposite s end ill of thesleeve l3that is an annular memthe opposite end of .position.

ber I 6 and a flange I! of a support I8 holding the sleeve l3 in a flxedLike. support 8, support l8 has a plurality of holes i9 leading to achamber 20 from which I an exit pipe 2| leads from a cup-shaped member22 to the applicator of a coacting machine.

The support l8 clamps a flexible diaphragm 23 between the periphery ofthe support and the rim 24 of the cup-shaped member. The flexiblediaphragms 6 and 23 and the flexible sleeve l3 may flex between thepositions shown in full and dotted lines to cause the fluid being pumpedto enter through pipe 4, apertures 5 and apertures Section .in the Fig.6 position,

I when the sleeve 13 flexes outwardly and to cause the n 'd being pumpedto pass through apertures I3, 26 d out of the exit pipe 2| when theflexible sleeve l3 flexes toward the center of the cylinder l4. Thus,the fluid being pumped comes in contact with comparatively few parts ofthe apparatus and these parts can be very quickly assembled anddisassembled as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The means for flexing the tube or sleeve 13 is a fluid, such as water,which fllls the chamber 11 between the flexible sleeve I3 and thecylinder 23. This water is pulsated in and out through a pipe 23 andthrough the ferrule 33 by means of the engine part of the mechanismdesignated broadly as 2. A plate 3| prevents the stream of water fromdirectly striking the walls of the tubular sleeve I3. However, as thefluid 21 is sucked back and forth through the pipe 23, the fluid beingpulsated will be metered and will be passed out through the exit pipe2|.

The pipe 23 as indicated in Fig. 1 leads to a cylinder 33 in which thereis a piston 34 operated by a crank 35 carried on an eccentric 36 whichis turned by a shaft 31. This shaft may be mounted on suitable ballbearings 38 and may be driven from a source of power through a worm 39and wormwheel 40. With the setting, as shown in Fig. 4, the pump is setfor its maximum delivery and its stroke is set for its full range ofmovement. As the piston 34 moves back and forth, the fluid is pulsatedback and forth into the chamber 21 to flex the flexible sleeve I3 and topump the fluid.

If a change is required in the amount pumped, the engine can be adjustedin the following manner. n the end of the shaft 31 there is a handwheel4| which has a threaded connection at 42 with the shaft. This handwheelmay be turned releasing the clamping action between a pair of spacedwasher-like members 43 and 44. This permits the clutch elements 45 and46 to be separated so that the teeth 41 of these elements may beuncoupled. .By utilizing the knurled edge 48 of clutch member 46 it maythen be turned up to 180", which movement is permitted by a pin 43carried by clutch member 46 traveling in a slot 53 cut in the clutchmember 45. The pin 49 may carry an indexing arrow which may be broughtopposite to a graduation of the scale 52 carried by indicating theamount pumped for any particular setting.

From Figs. 5 and6 it will be noticed that C is the center line of thepower driven shaft 31, EC is the center line of the eccentric for movinthe crank arm 35, and CE is the center line of a hub member which isalso eccentric and which is indicated by the reference character 53.Thus, 53 has an eccentric shape and is positioned in such' a manner thatby ber 46 180 relative to clutch member stroke of the crank 35 can bealtered from its full stroke position of Fig. 5 to the position of Fig.6 in which it makes no stroke at all. Thus. the eccentric 36 carried bythe clutch element 46 is centered on the center of the shaft 31 so shaftis operating, the piston 34 will remain stationary. However, eachmovement of the clutch face 46 relative to clutch 45 from the positionshown in Fig. 6. toward the position shown in Fig. 5, will increase thestroke of the piston 34.

It will be noticed that the hub 53 is attached by a key 55 to the clutchmember 45 and that turning the clutch mem that, even though thiscomparatively of small clutch member 45, thus of fluid which will be thehub 53 is likewise attached by a key 53 to the main drive s'haft 31.Consequently the drive shaft will always transmit motion to the clutchmember 45 and, when the handwheel 4| holds the clutch members 46 and 45together, the shaft 31 will transmit motion to the eccentric 33 whichoperates the crank 35.

Referring again to Fi 3, the means for disassembling that part of thepump which contacts with the fluid being pumped will now be described.When it is necessary to clean the P p, by merely loosening the twosetscrews 63 and 6|. when setscrew 63 is turned on its threadedconnection 62 with a semi-cylindrical member I4, the end 63 of thesetscrew releases the cupshaped member- 22 and with it all of thefollowing parts: The diaphragm 23, the support l3, the clamping ring l6,the flexible sleeve I3, the clamping ring II, the annular member I, thediaphragm 6, the support 8, and the annular member 64 which carries theinlet pipe 4.

Before releasing the setscrew 60, it is desirable to release thesetscrew 6|, so that the U-shaped yoke 65 can be swung about its pivot66 and so that the ferrule 30 may be removed from the packing 61 whichconnects it through the ferrule 68 to the pipe 29. a

All oi. the parts can be removed through the open section 10 of thesemi-cylindrical member l4, this open section extending approximately asbest shown in Fig. 2 where the numeral indicates the edge walls of thesemi-cylindrical member l4. 3 As will be noted the removed parts areeither annular members or flat parts which can be readily placed in acontainer for suitable solvents or cleaning materials so that they canall be quickly and easily washed out. They can then be very. quicklyreassembled for use with a different type of coating material or, ifdesired, a fresh set of parts can be reassembled for the next coatingmaterial to be used with the improved meter pump.

As the parts are all simple in construction and size, they can readilybe made of a material which is inert toward the 'material being pumped.It is well known, for

instance, that photographic emulsions will not tolerate any iron becausethis produces spots in the coatings made from such emulsions. It issometimes desirable to have such emulsions contact only with an inertsurface, such as silver plating. Except for the flexible diaphragms, allparts of my pump which contact with emulsion can be readily silverplated without undue expense. The flexible diaphragms, if the pump is tobe used for photographic emulsions, must be free from sulphur, but ifthe proper type of rubber is used, this is suitable material for thesleeve I3 and the diaphragm 23 and 6. It is also possible to use some ofthe artiflcially prepared flexible material, such as the material soldunder the name of Koroseal.

For many purposes stainless steel is an extremely desirable material forthose parts of the pump which may contact with the material beingpumped. If the use of the pump is to be highly specialized, those partswhich contact with the material can be made of any suitable inertmaterial, either synthetic material, molded material, metals, or alloys.

Since my pump was especially designed for metering two different fluidsfor a coating ma chine, I have also provided a supplementary all of theparts may be disassembled pump 3 of simple construction which can beomitted if desired. As indicated in Figs. 1. and 4, this supplementarypump may be driven by a rod 80 extending from the piston 34 and operatedby the crank shaft 35. The stroke of the rod 80 and the piston 8|movable with it must, therefore, necessarily coincide with the stroke ofthe piston 34. Piston 8i passes through a suitable bearing 82 andthrough a packing 83, terminating at 84 in a pumping cylinder 85. Thiscylinder is provided with an inlet pipe 86 and an outlet pipe 8? inwhich known types of ball valves 88 and 89 are provided so that at eachstroke of the piston 8! a known quantity of fluid will be pumped out ofthe exit pipe 81 which may lead directly to the coating apparatus or itmay lead into the pipe 89 which leads from the exit 2! of the main pumpi,

so that the materials may be mixed before reaching the coating chamber.

With my improved pump, as above described, it will be noticed that theoperation of assembling and disassembling for cleaning is extremelysimple and it should be noticed that the parts which come in contactwith the material being pumped are parts which can be easily cleaned andwiped out before reuse. I have found with a pump constructed as abovedescribed, the operation of taking out the removable partsand assemblinga cleaned set of parts is an extremely rapid one, so that a coatingmachine can be kept in active operation with a very short time out forchanging over from pumping one fluid to pumping a second fluid, whichmight otherwise be contaminated by the fluid which had been previouslyused in the machine.

What I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. For use in pumping fluids, a pumping element comprising a support,spaced endson the support, said support including a semi-cylindricalwall extending from one end to the other and having an opening extendingapproximately the full distance between the spaced ends thereof, aflexible tubular diaphragm, a pair of apertured circular diaphragms, aplurality of annular nested members adapted through frictional contactto support said diaphragms in a flxed position inside of thesemi-cylindrical support, an apertured valve plate adjacent eachapertured circular diaphragm positioned to form with the diaphragm aone-way valve, one valve to admit fluid to the flexible tubulardiaphragm and the other valve to pass fluid from the flexibletubulardiaphragm, one spaced end of the support form i ing an abutment,a single setscrew having a threaded connection with the other spaced endand positioned axially thereof, said setscrew being adapted to clampsaid diaphragms and annular nested members frictionally in an operativeposition when said setscrew is'tightened, the opening extending betweenthe ends and the semi-cylindrical wall being of a size to remove orassemble said diaphragms and annular nested members by releasing ortightening the singlesetscrew whereby saidparts may be readilyassembledand disassembled for cleaning. 2. For use-with pulsatorsincluding a pisto and cylinder for forcing pumping fluid back and forth,a cylinder adapted to be connected to the cylinder of the pulsator, aflexible sleeve, flexible 70 perforated diaphragms, and perforatedplates adjacent said diaphragms, .all carried by the cylinder formingflexible pumping and valve members, said perforated plates supportingone side of each of the flexible diaphragms and constituting annularmembers to-form with the diaphragms one-way valves, one for passingfluid to, and the other for passing fluid from the flexible sleeve asthe latter is moved in its cylinder through the pulsator, a plurality of-annular sleeves supporting the flexible members through frictionalcontact therewith, a semi-cylindrical support having an opening parallelto the axis thereof including an abutment at one end, a setscrew at theother end positioned for exerting an axial thrust upon the cylinder,flexible sleeve, flexible diaphragms and annular parts for positioningthese parts to hold them in assembled relationship, all of said partsbeing removable from the opening in said support when said setscrew isreleased.

3. For use with pulsators including a piston and cylinder for forcingpumping fluid back and forth, a cylinder adapted to be connected to thecylinder of the pulsator, a flexible sleeve, flexible perforateddiaphragms, and perforated plates adjacent each diaphragm, all carriedby the cylinder forming flexible pumping and valve members, saidperforated plates supporting one side of the flexible diaphragm andconstituting annular members to form with the flexible diaphragmsone-way valves, one for passing fluid to, and the other for passingfluid from the flexible sleeve as the latter is moved in the cylinderthrough the pulsator, a plurality of annular flanged sleevesforsupporting and. holding the two valves, one connected to each end ofthe flexible sleeve, each valve comprising a perforated flexiblediaphragm and a perforated plate, all

carried by the cylinder forming flexible pumping and valve members, onefor passing fluid to, and the other for passing fluid from the flexiblesleeve as the latter is moved through the pulsator, a plurality ofannular flanged sleeves for supporting and holding the flexible membersin an operative position in said cylinder, a support comprisingconnected spaced end members, one end constituting an abutment, asetscrew in the other end member for holding all the annular members andflexible members in an operative position in which the parts are infrictional engagement, said annular and flexible members being releasedfrom operative position by releasing the setscrew, the shape of saidsupport being such that said released parts may be re-

